Wednesday, March 22, 2017

IBM Is Ending Decades-Old Remote Work Policy

The worst part about this announcement? For the first time in years, thousands of IBM employees are now going to have to put on pants in the morning before going to work.

IBM had decided to “co-locate” the US marketing department, about 2,600 people, which meant that all teams would now work together, “shoulder to shoulder,” from one of six different locations—Atlanta, Raleigh, Austin, Boston, San Francisco, and New York. Employees who worked primarily from home would be required to commute, and employees who worked remotely or from an office that was not on the list (or an office that was on the list, but different than the one to which their teams had been assigned) would be required to either move or look for another job. Similar announcements had already been made in other departments, and more would be made in the future.